Going on a pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five tasks all Muslims are meant to undertake - and apparently the most difficult one to complete. It is customary for all worshipers to attempt to make the pilgrimage at least once in their life as long as they are able to do so, physically and financially.
This year, more than 12,800 Chinese Muslims have joined about 2 million pilgrims from around the world on the pilgrimage to become a hajji.
The China Islamic Association, a national Muslim organization under the supervision of the State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA), organizes Chinese pilgrims' visits.
Application Process
China has official policies to manage the hajj and all potential Chinese pilgrims to Mecca have to first go through an application process.
☑ First, one must go to the management committee of a local mosque to acquire proof of one's Muslim identity, which should then be submitted to the local Islamic Association.
☑ Once approved by the association, the potential pilgrims have to have their health checked to ensure they are up to taking the long journey.
☑ Next, the wannabe hajji must pay travel fees to the association and then receive training.
Expenses
According to hajj application websites, each pilgrim must pay a bit more than 40,000 yuan ($5,998) in advance to cover the entire trip including their transport, meals, religious garments and insurance.
Anything that's left over, which usually amounts to a few hundred yuan, is given back to the hajji after their return to China and the balance sheet for each year is publicized on each provincial Islamic Association's website.
Content the Training
The training they receive includes China's hajj policies and regulations, discipline related to taking a trip abroad, and religious knowledge about the hajj.
The aim of the training is to allow the pilgrims to understand how their journey is being organized and to enhance their sense of unity to ensure they have a safe and fruitful hajj.
Age Requirement?
Although there is no age requirement for pilgrims in Islamic teachings, the association requires that pilgrims should be over 18 years old, though some western provinces set the bar at 25 or 35.
In some provinces and regions, those over 70 years old are required to sign a declaration saying that they take responsibility for any health issues they experience while on hajj.
How many pilgrims China sends each year?
The application process is very competitive, especially in western regions with large Muslim populations, even though the number of Chinese pilgrims has been dramatically expanding over the decades.
A 2015 Foreign Policy article claims that applicants in Indonesia, the nation with the world's largest Muslim population, can wait from 12 to 17 years to take the hajj.
China has just over 20 million Muslims, according to the 2013 population census. This year China has sent 12,800 pilgrims on the hajj, and the quota is split up among 30 provincial-level Islamic administrations.
The allocation of pilgrim quotas to provinces and regions is decided by the SARA according to the number of applications in each province. China's national quota is set by Saudi Arabia.
The department said the total number of pilgrims China sends each year has hovered between 12,000 and 14,500 in recent years.
Organized Tour
The journeys of Chinese hajjis are entirely taken care of by a group of government employees. More than 300 workers with the China Islamic Association are dedicated to arranging everything for the pilgrimage, including applying for travelers' visas and booking their flights. Some of them travel to Saudi Arabia beforehand to arrange hotels, meals and buses.
China has established a cooperation mechanism with the Saudi Arabian government and Islamic organs.
Some pious elderly Muslims are so excited to go on the hajj that they borrow money from others in order to pay the fees, and that there is some peer pressure in the Muslim community to go on hajj.
The road to Mecca has been a bumpy one for Chinese Muslims. Their long journey has been restricted by both the great distance between China and Saudi Arabia and the sometimes rocky diplomatic relations between the nations.
But now, Chinese hajjis are the happiest in the world with official support: pilgrim! 
Source: globaltimes
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